I have convinced the owner to drop his asking price for this print of King Kong - he reluctantly agreed (now A$150)
HISTORY:
My "world" is 'the arts' and more specifically, music, artwork and hand crafted/decorated chinaware's.
I am not a film enthusiast but an associate has asked me to find new owners for THEIR large collection of photographic and film items ... this is one of those items.
While the world of 8mm/Super 8mm is not my area of expertise, I am doing my best to establish the condition of each item that I am listing.
I tend to be quite detailed in my item descriptions, please READ all the details to decide if this item may interest you.
Now, on with the description ...
This one is special in so many ways!
Film stock is on nice solid metal LARGE 12" 1200 foot reels (2) from ELMO (Japan)
It would seem to be the FULL movie, not "selected scenes"
Super 8 print of the original, not the later versions of this story, demonstrating the quite crude special effects used almost 100 years ago which stunned movie goers at the time.
RKO RADIO PICTURES - Super 8 Film
Commercial release for the Home Movie market
While I would love to tell all who the distributor was ... I did not see any credit to a distributor at the beginning of either reel - just the usual numerical countdown and then the RKO Radio Pictures credit.
Catalogue # Not Stated on packaging - in fact packaging is very "generic"
KING KONG (1933) Full Length Feature
The plot of this very well known fantasy-horror story/motion picture doesn't need repeating here ....
Each reel is housed in an original ELMO (Japan) generic box for the reels.
Leader films are fitted to both reels
12" 1200' Aluminium unbranded reel but I am told by the owner these are ELMO's
Black & White
Sound
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Film stock and both of the reels are undamaged
Both reels are straight and true
Labelling (hand written) has been applied to one side of each reel, the rear and side of the cardboard outer box.
The strong cardboard outer cases are in really good condition, no tears nor seam splits - nice!
NOTE: The owner treasured this film and looked after it. I took the reels out of the box and they were in sealed clear plastic packets WITH SILICA GEL packs to reduce the effects of moisture. Because I opened the seal to view the films, the Silica Gel's effectiveness is reduced when in the "open air" so I am supplying the reel with NEW Silica Gel packs and the protective clear plastic is also new and heat sealed.
NO unusual smells detected coming off the film i.e no vinegar odours
NO personal names or other writing on the outer cardboard cases or the film reels
TESTING:
Test projector is the ELMO 1200 that I have on hand at the moment.
Film looks to be clean and in good condition, sprocket holes are not damaged.
I ran the film through the projector for the first 15 minutes or so, to observe the picture and sound.
The monochrome (Black & White not Sephia) is nice and clean with good imaging. At the beginning I felt the contrast was not so good but this was only during the opening credits, after this the contrast seemed to improve.
SPECIAL NOTE:
I always include a couple of "off screen" snapshots ... now my digital camera is antiquated and it's limitations are definitely showing up in these sample photographs.
I take the screen shot in very low light levels, the camera flash is turned off (otherwise the picture is flooded with White) and the camera shutter speed is very slow.
This means I have trouble getting sharp photographs, especially when there is movement on the screen and I have noticed that after viewing quite a few films now, that my poor OLD digital camera is tending to emphasise the Red's in the photographs anyway - in real life the on-screen picture is not as Red as recorded in the photographs.
Sound (English dialogue) is good, clean but I felt just slightly muffled, indicating the high frequency range had dropped off a little OR it could be my old ears! Anyway, I could easily understand what was going on, I just had to listen more carefully.
In my opinion, after this very brief test, I am happy that the film is as stated on the outer cardboard cases and the reels and looks to be in very good "technical" condition.
YET ANOTHER SPECIAL NOTE:
Keep in mind that these reels are large, you will need a projector that can handle such beasts - at least having large reels beats changing multiple smaller reels and provides more continuity.
Anyway, I am very fastidious and careful with these films and I have now packed it back into the original cardboard boxes, with the reels having new Silica Gel packs and being completely sealed in clear plastic PLUS the outer cardboard casing is also within sealed clear plastic. Now these patiently await a Super 8 film enthusiast to give it a new home to King Kong!
